


The Lost Wolf

by Blue_Hood



Series: Not What They Seem [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Homecoming, Souled Vampire(s), Vampire Bites, Werewolves, Xavier Institute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-05-19 21:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19364140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Clint mentioned Steve was marked by a werewolf and implied he'd seen a certain dead soldier alive but as a weapon.Time for the wolf's story.





	1. Rescue

Clint slipped up behind Tony in the workshop. Without turning around, the inventor said "It's not feeding time yet."

"It's close," argued Clint with a smile "Steve smells of wolf again, I need a bite for the road."

"Oh, okay. Back up a bit, you're breathing down my neck." Smirking, Clint took two steps back to let his favorite human turn around. "Breathing in my scent, right. Come on," Tony tipped his head back and Clint shook his head, pointing to the human's wrist. "Alright, have it your way," Tony sat up and held out his wrist. "Always gotta be-" his thought was cut off by the bite, "Oh god."

As soon as it started, it was over "Just a quick snack to bring me back to full strength, I'm trying to get myself on a schedule as you love to remind me."

"JARVIS, dim the lights just outside the workshop, give Clinton some shadows."

The light dimmed and Clint moved as if drawn to the shadows "I'll be back for a proper bite, on time hopefully."

Tony turned back to his project, forcing himself to think straight which was hard around the time of a bite, he'd discovered. He wondered if Clint had an ability he didn't know about that better explained humanity's willingness to let vampires feed on them. There had to be something more than goths fantasize about it and vampires know how to use the lure of being special. Though Tony would admit, if only to himself when he couldn't focus, that he did like knowing Clint needed him. Throwing his tools down, Tony left the workshop for a lost cause.

Meanwhile, Clint managed to make it to the base before they wiped Barnes again. He used his vampiric strength to throw the humans aside and rip the restraints off the chair Barnes was in. Grabbing the Winter Soldier by the shoulders with both hands, he hauled him up and into the shadows to jump. Since the shadows weren't big enough for both of them, they fell out of the other side. "Ow, glad I recharged first," said Clint before he hauled himself up. Grabbing Barnes, he looked around and almost groaned. Right, it was the middle of the day on a weekday in New York. "Sorry to interrupt, Ch-Professor but you said you'd help with a brainwashed super-soldier once I got him out." It was so easy to forget about the passage of time when its affect on you was practically nothing. Clint had to remember not to use the kiddie name on a fully grown adult.

"Of course," Charles already had two fingers on his temple, forcing Sergeant Barnes to stay calm as he called Logan. Sometimes Clint could sense things that didn't make sense given his power set, like sensing Charles was calling Logan before he heard the mutant's approach.

"What is it?" The sight that greeted Logan was Clint holding up a ragged man, who looked on the verge of sleep, while Charles was leading a class. Clint at least had the decency to look abashed, the kids seemed excitedly amused by the events.

"Logan, could you take our guest to a spare room?"

"Yeah, sure." Clint transferred his burden to the other strong man before slinking back into the shadows to head home. Popping out of the shadows near Steve nearly caused the super soldier to spill his cereal all over. The near miss caused Clint to laugh.

"It's not funny, Clint."

"It is kinda funny but there's a reason I sought you out," Clint showed Steve the picture he'd snapped of the Soldier's face a moment before he freed the man, "Look familiar?"

"Bucky?" Steve set his bowl down, taking the phone gently as though it would shatter.

"That was my thought too when Tony showed me a picture of your old war buddy. He's been brainwashed into a weapon, a friend of mine who founded the X-Men is gonna take care of him, help him get back to being Barnes. I thought you should know."

Steve looked up at him "Can I see him?"

"I don't have permission to bring anyone to their base and I think I've used up my one unannounced drop in for the week. Tell you what, I'll call in a couple hours and see if I can schedule something," offered Clint as he deftly took his phone "In the meantime, I'll text you this picture and you can look up the Winter Soldier, that's what they call him by the way. Alright?" Swallowing, Steve nodded. "Alright, you got the picture and once you finish the reading then I'll call to schedule a visit. The thing you have to understand is Barnes will never be the Bucky you remember. The things he was forced to do as the Soldier will haunt him for the rest of his life. Be prepared to compromise on a few things for his sake, starting with name. Be ready to call him Jim or James because sooner or later, Bucky will be a memory to him and the name might start hurting then."

"How do you know?"

"My wife Laura, she was a normal vampire. She'd play these games with me, the mother of my children, and eventually thinking of the woman I loved hurt more than remembering the monster she'd become. Our children and I get together on the anniversary of her death, sort of a we-survived type deal. Anthony, my youngest, takes after her so much that Tony, our inventor friend, thought some nasty things just from seeing his room. Worst part is, he was probably right about those nasty thoughts. I think my son is a psychopath, his mother had long given up the charade of sanity by the time he was born."

"You still had a kid with her," the words felt hollow and wrong to Steve's ears.

"Anytime I encountered my wife after we split, I knew I'd be making a sadistic choice." After a deep breath, Clint looked Steve in the eye "Anthony is my son but make no mistake, love had nothing to do with his conception. See ya later, Steve."

When Clint appeared in his workshop for the second time, Tony said "You already ate."

"Sorry, I just told Steve about Laura. I didn't wanna stick around for him to figure out how our youngest happened." He moved to leave.

"Wait! Stop!" Clint spun back around "I'm sorry, I just assumed."

"I get it, I didn't spend much time around you before."

"About that, I think the high of the bite lingers because anytime you feed from me I have trouble focusing after. I just shook off the last of that effect."

"I'm sorry, I forgot about that. Phil never seemed to mind, of course he was so stoic that you'd never know a high came with the bite."

"Right." Tony glanced at the couch "Why don't you lay down?"

"Alright," Clint shot to the couch, just to show off his speed, and plopped down to sleep.


	2. Shift

Wolves, Rogers and Barnes both smelled like wolves. Decades of discipline kept Clint from biting when he realized they were _both_ werewolves. Instead he asked Steve "You've never shifted, have you?"

Shaking his head, both in answer and exasperation, Steve said "Always too sick."

"You and James grew up together, you smell like his pack but the scent fluctuates because you've never let yours out." Clint backed up against the wall.

Returning from a dizzying shadow jump with a silver edged sword. Barnes jumped up and away, "Relax, I'm not gonna use it. Steve is, shifting to wolf form allows for supernatural healing. Unless someone can yank the damn thing off, mount and all, cutting your shoulder is the best bet."

Laying the sword on the table, Clint warned "Silver burns werewolves so careful to stick to the grip, only the bladed edge is silver because the stuff harms pretty much every supernatural being and even an idiot can decapitate a distracted enemy."

Steve looked at Bucky warily, Clint said "You can't both be in wolf form together because, unless I totally missed my guess, you're both Alphas."

Barnes extended his mechanical arm "Worst case scenario, I'm an amputee."

"No. Worst case scenario, Steve is worst with that than a drunk human and bumps your neck. Silver burns and decapitation works on anything." Clint held up his hands "I'd do it but your wolf would probably try to kill me so I can't be present when you change." He ran out of the room at a human pace.

"Steady, Stevie. Don't take too much off the top." Holding the hilt with both hands, Steve made one clean slice and Bucky shifted as he fell with a howl.

Hearing the howl, Clint sighed and clamped down on his control to stay human, keeping his eyes blue. He walked into the teachers' lounge "Steve and James are both werewolves. Steve's never shifted so he needs to shift at night without Barnes. If they're both Alphas, they'll kill each other shifting together. Before the serum, he was too sick to shift but after, anonymity was the problem."

James found them and set Clint on edge, "Instincts are down, I'm not gonna hurt you." Clint nodded stiffly. "If you know he needs to shift at night, you also know his first shift must last the whole night and he should've done it before now."

Again, Clint nodded stiffly and sighed "You got instincts, so do I and they say the same thing." He hissed when James came closer and upon hearing himself, jumped back.

"Okay."

"You were fine a couple of minutes ago," said Steve.

"The recent shift changes things," explained James.

"Did the shift clear your head?" asked Clint.

With a slight smile, James nodded "Night shifts are safer."

Eyeing Steve, Clint said "You grew up in James' house, his pack, didn't you?"

James answered for the bashful blond, "Yeah." Narrowing his eyes as they turned red, he asked "How'd you know that?"

Clint fought back the urge to snarl before answering "When I thought he was human, the wolf scent seemed linked to you."

Dropping all signs of agression, Bucky rubbed his neck "Whoops."

Catching on to Steve's confusion, Clint explained "He channeled his wolf unintentionally." Turning to Barnes, he asked "What's your wolf's name or is that a myth?"

"It's real. Balder."

"Like the norse god?"

James shrugged "Means brave."

Steve asked "What?"

Clint looked at him, "It's rather simple. In wolf form, his name is Balder. In human form, his name is James Barnes. After your first shift, you'll know your wolf's form."

James said "Wonder what kind of wolf he'll be." Clint shrugged and James changed the subject to something less werewolf centered.

* * *

 

"His wolf's name is Ryder," James told Clint without preamble.

"American name meaning knight, fits."

"How do you know the meaning?"

"I looked up American names before he shifted."

James nodded, "I must've been in wolf form for a while because I think my memory is all back."

"Now Charlie just needs to check your triggers and we can start working on reintegration." At James' nervous look, Clint clarified "Either getting you a new identity or finding a way to restore the old one." When that calmed him down, Clint asked "What kind of wolf is Steve?"

"Grey wolf."

"Lycaon?"

"I think so."

Clint nodded and the conversation drifted.


	3. Coming Home

Tony picked James up from the school personally, "If you wan to rejoin the world then we're gonna have to do some press. You are officially the longest held POW in history, which is how we got around a trial. Now, everyone is gonna want a part of you, you're Bucky Barnes." He held up a hand to cut off protests, eyes never straying from the road, "I know you prefer James, you don't have to tell me but to everyone else, to the world at large, you're Captain America's best friend Bucky Barnes. You and Steve can commiserate over the struggles of being forced into a role while adjusting to a new world. I'm just saying, we're gonna have to do some press if you don't wanna be swarmed by paparazzi all the time. You can tell the world about your preference, I can help you prepare so you can dodge questions about your time in HYDRA's hands. We'll be fine. Clint's a vampire, Steve's a werewolf, Thor's an alien, Bruce turns into a monster called the Hulk. Nobody on the team is normal, we won't expect you to be. The rest of the world, I don't know but we'll figure it out and adapt, it's what we do."

"Thanks."

Changing the subject to avoid an awkward silence, Tony said "Clint said something about you being a wrangler."

"Yeah. You know all those medical conditions Steve had never stopped him from picking fights with bigger guys. Win or lose, he had to be right. What's that gotta do with-?"

"Geniuses tend to prioritize work over sleep, I have Clint but one of our other scientists, Dr. Jane Foster, has a lab assistant named Darcy Lewis as her wrangler and while she's good, she can't get Jane to go to sleep when the woman doesn't want to. Long story short, we could use someone to pull Jane from the lab when she goes on a bender for her safety and Darcy's sanity. Clint's got his hands full with being my wrangler, being an Avenger, trying to feed all of our scientists at least once a day and that's all on top of being a vampire and a father. His kids are vampires too and," Tony cut himself off with a sigh "Ask Clint anything, he'll tell you now lies. He might use misdirection but he won't lie. I hope you'll be the same when it comes to information on werewolves."

"Alright." James said "Let me see if I got this straight, you want me to help someone named Darcy Lewis make sure her boss goes to bed?"

"I figure you're probably old fashioned like Steve, he insisted on doing something to repay me for letting him live in the Tower until I snapped at him. He's the team leader, the Tower is our base, making it our home and workplace. Now he and Clint have instituted team dinners which they require all residents on the Avengers' levels to attend, Steve seems much more relaxed about living here with a job he can do for the others. I'm just trying to get ahead of the curb this time."

"You realize I only know you, Clint and Steve. Introductions are gonna have to come before I agree to anything."

"Right. If you read about the Battle of New York or anything about the Avengers for your reintegration, you might've seen the Black Widow among our numbers. She's no longer an Avenger since she proved time and again she doesn't trust us. The breaking point was discovering what she did to free Clint from alien mind control would've killed a human, she had the gall to act like she planned it that way when we now know she was trying to kill him."

"Touchy subject?"

"She also did a personality profile on me that included the words Iron Man Yes, Tony Stark Not Recommended. Called me a textbook narcissist, which according to the Professor is impossible because you can't have a textbook mental disorder. Her profile was meant to make me need to prove myself to others, it worked until Clint outed her with the little tidbit about her strategy amounting to attempted murder led me to consult a damn psychologist on her profile. Clint says I'm the opposite of a narcissist, I don't care about myself but I hide it so others don't take advantage of me which is dead on."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Tony sat up straighter in his seat before admitting, "I kinda forgot you were there, I ramble a lot, usually talking to JARVIS. Did anyone explain JARVIS to you?"

"Yeah, computer that runs your Tower, might seem like a ghost until I get used to it."

"That sums it up." Coming to a stop, Tony turned to him "Even though I was rambling and forgot you were there, I don't care that you heard all that. Forget it, don't, doesn't matter to me. Steve and Clint trust you, the Professor trusts you, I trust you. Okay?"

"Yeah."

Tony turned on the radio, "Listen to whatever you want, it's a long drive from Westchester to Manhattan." Arriving in the parking garage, James grabbed his bag from the backseat before following Tony to the elevator. The welcome home party waiting for him was almost overwhelming, Steve led him around the room and introduced him to everyone which lessened his anxiety as the people were nice and calm. He knew that the rest of the world would be worse when he did the interviews but that could all wait. For now, he was home.

At dinner, Tony told Steve and James "I still own the family mansion over on Long Island if you need a place to run wild at night."

James replied "Thank you, Tony." Getting old-fashioned men like the two super-soldiers to call people by their first names could be like pulling teeth, luckily Steve was already broken of the habit of formal address which made James' transition to using first names much easier.

Sitting beside Tony, Clint said "Let me be the first to say, welcome home," as he raised a glass, turning the sentiment into a toast.


End file.
